Tom's Freedom
by Mokkevva
Summary: Did you ever wonder what Tom was thinking during his imprisonment? What would have happened if they had acted faster and managed to save Jakes family from becoming controllers? I do not own Animorphs. UP FOR ADOPTION! SEE PROFILE.
1. Chapter 1

TOM

"No!"

No, no, no, no. That was all I could say or rather, all I could think. I don't get to talk anymore. Haven't been able to talk except to beg for my freedom. Or to curse those who took it away from me.

You see, I'm a controller. A human infested with a Yeerk. An alien parasite with the ability to crawl into your brain and take over your body. You loose all control to it. It takes over your memories, your movements… your very identity. It becomes you.

Now don't get this wrong, its not like you're tied down and all you can do is watch while a slug destroys your life. You can fight, and if you time it right, you can blow the Yeerk's cover.

So why haven't I done this yet? Why am I letting a slug live in my brain? Well, Its for one very simple reason. My brother.

My little brother Jake has always been a great kid. Smart, athletic, caring, and he always looked up to me. That's because I was always there for him, whether it was defending him from a bully, or taking the fall for a vase broken by a wayward baseball. No matter what happened I could always protect him.

Or I would be if those stupid Andalite bandits hadn't kidnapped me. I sat tied to a chair in some broken down shack. The Andalites guarded me carefully, waiting for the Yeerk to die. They didn't talk, and wouldn't even reveal their true forms to me. They circled endlessly in forms of animals that I knew were dangerous in the real world. I guess most people would be shouting with joy at the prospect of freedom by now, but I was screaming in anger and fear. If the Yeerk died, my brother would be taken. They had promised. They would take him as a host, and once he couldn't be used anymore, they would torture him to death.

Why couldn't they see. They were so selfish, just grabbing people and 'saving' them.

Don't bother worrying over that scum anymore. A horrible evil voice filled with malice and scorn muttered. They've already taken him. We've been sitting here for a day already, there's no chance that he's still free. Congratulations Tom, you'll be free at the cost of your brother and your parents. You know what? They probably even have your cousins and your aunt and uncle."

"No! he's free they're free. My father will save them. He'll call the police or the army. He'll protect Jake. He'll save them. I didn't believe it, and he knew it.

That uncertainty did more damage than the Yeerks words. I receded into silent sobs.

JAKE

It killed me watching Tom suffer. The Yeerk spent his time sneering at us and calling out jibes that we ignored. He was running out of time and growing weaker. He wouldn't be around for much longer.

I was worried though. From what I'd seen so far, those recovering from a Yeerk infestation tended to fight and break through periodically. For some reason, Tom didn't.

I had fought, so why wasn't Tom?

A wolf trotted through the door.

Jake, you can leave now, I'll take over. Cassie. I looked out the only window. I could see the sun rising. I'd been there all night without realizing it.

Thanks Cassie. I walked out the door and blinked my tired tiger eyes. Something amazing suddenly hit me. It was morning: the morning of the third day. By tomorrow, Tom would be free. I couldn't wait to see my parents.

TOBIAS

I sat on a tree branch overlooking the shack. I stretched my wings and arched my back, wincing as I stretched the stiff muscles and shook off the morning chill. I had been sitting here all day long for the past two days. At least after today, I would be able to do whatever I wanted, and spend as much time as I wanted with my mom.

Sighing, I settled in for another day. It would definitely be a long one.

TOM

I must have dozed off at some point. I woke to waves of pain and screaming. Terrible screaming. I suddenly realized that the Yeerk was dying. I laughed for joy, but something was wrong. For some reason I shouldn't be happy.

Then I remembered.

Jake.

I screamed. I screamed as loud as the Yeerk. I screamed as I felt the Yeerk die and slide out the side of my head. I screamed as I regained control of my body, then my scream turned to words directed towards the Andalites.

"Damn you! Its all your fault! You killed him! Why couldn't you just leave me alone?!"

There were two Andalites in the room. A wolf and a bear. They stared at my little outburst, then the wolf approached me slowly, head lowered and whimpered.

A female voice entered my head.

Tom calm down. Your free now. The Yeerk is dead and gone for good. Everything is alright now.

"No its not! Its not alright! Its all your fault! Now they've taken him! I wasn't there to protect him and they took him!" The full weight of the moment hit be like a sledge hammer and I slumped over. The ropes that continued to hold me restrained me from burying my head in my hands. "Oh God, They took Jake."

I broke down into sobs.

I nearly choked as I heard a voice, tired yet condescending, speak up behind me.

" you always were ungrateful, you overgrown drama king. Here we go and rescue you from the clutches of a slug and you cant even say thank you."

I whipped my head around so fast that I wrenched my neck. He stood there grinning. He was dirty, and had shadows under his eyes, but it was Jake.

"Jake!" I screamed. I tried to jump up, only to slam down on the floor, still tied to the chair. I strained forward, trying to reach him.

I flinched as I felt hot breath on my arm and turned to see the bear beside me.

Calm down Tom. I'm just gonna untie you. No need to freak out.

I froze. I knew that voice. I'd heard it nearly every day since I was a little kid and my aunt had moved into town after divorcing my uncle.

I blinked at the bear. "Rachel?"

I swear it grinned, and then it leaned forward and snapped the ropes with its teeth and claws. As I watched, it seemed to melt away leaving behind my younger cousin.

Still smiling, she turned to my brother and saluted.

"Captain Jake, operation free your brother has been a success. Now get over here and give him a hug before he completely breaks down."

CASSIE

Poor Tom. He looked so confused as his gaze traveled between Jake and Rachel, and then over to me as I demorphed.

"H-how is this possible?" He really was confused. "They said they would take you- take you away if I ever fought back. Why are you he-" then he really looked at us. Realizing what he was seeing, and his face paled. "You're the Andalite Bandits."

Jake's grin grew slightly bigger. "Bingo."


	2. Chapter 2

I sat huddled under a cover with a warm mug between my cold fingers. My brother along with the 'Andalite bandits' surrounded me. I was still reeling over the fact that my little brother, my cousin, and three of their school friends were the unbending and undefeatable force that kept Visser Three awake at night. The icing on the cake had been when I'd seen Ax. The only free Andalite on the planet, and he was little more than a child. At this point, my initial shock had worn off, and I had doubled over, losing myself in a fit of laughing and crying.

Once I became aware of my surroundings again, I was sitting here on a log in front of a warm fire. It's nighttime and the sky is a deep midnight blue. I felt a vague sense of surprise as I noticed how bright the stars were, and how many there were. They twinkled and seemed to dance around an enormous glowing full moon. When was the last time that I'd gotten to just sit and watch the stars?

"Tom!"

I jerked my head down coming face to face with Jake. I realized that he had been calling me for a while, now he squatted in front of me shaking my shoulders. He watched my face for a moment as if looking for any lasting effect of the Yeerks.

"It's real isn't it?" My eyes flicked to the stars then back to his face. "That all happened right? You're still free?" I sighed in relief at his nod. "Wait! What about Mom and Dad? You got them out alright didn't you?"

Jake smiled again. He smiled different now than before. His eyes were so deep and full, as if he knew every dark secret this world had to offer. Somehow, he still managed to look happy, even with that knowledge.

"We snuck Mom and Dad out right before we nabbed you. We've been keeping them isolated, you know, just to make sure that the others hadn't gotten to them first. That's the only reason they haven't been in here demanding to see you every other minute. Rachel and Cassie went to get them, so you have a few minutes to pull yourself together."

He held out a tissue box to me. I stared at it for a moment.

"Um, Jake, were sitting in the middle of a forest with a campfire. We don't even have any real chairs. Why the hell are you carrying around a tissue box?"

JAKE

That caught me off guard. Don't get me wrong, I had a perfectly good reason for the tissues, we had done this before, more times than I'd care to think about. I knew we'd need them for the little family reunion. What got me was how un-controller-Tom that question was. I'd lived with him for so long in that state that I'd partially forgotten the brother of old: the brother who'd take time to ask perfectly irrelevant questions.

Boy was I glad that Tom was back.

I'm sure I looked like an idiot, I was smiling so much, but I couldn't help it.

"Just wait Tom," I looked up at the small group of people who entered the firelight. "You're about to thank me."


End file.
